Running Shorts

Source: Cincinnati Enquirer archive - http://www2.cincinnati.com/blogs/running/category/100-footprints/ On Thanksgiving morning in 1908, 21 men took off from the Fort Thomas Central YMCA, winding their way through Northern Kentucky and across the Ohio River into Cincinnati. 18 men reached the finish outside the downtown YMCA at 7th and Walnut streets. The winner that year -- as he was for the next four installments -- was Lovell Draper, covering the approximately 7-mile course in 37:15 and winning by over three minutes. (For some perspective, in that 7-mile race, Draper's 10k split would have been about 33:00, which would have been good enough for 11th place in last year's race , out of 14,259 total finishers.) While some cities celebrate Thanksgiving with a parade of floats, balloons, and bands, Cincinnati celebrates the holiday with a parade of runners. This is the abridged story of a local tradition. Before I go any further, the astute reader might point out that,...

I love working at a running store because I get to talk about running all day. I get to meet some really cool people and hopefully help them reach their personal goals. I also get a lot of questions...a lot of the same questions. For the sake of some lighthearted humor, here are some of the most common questions (or general comments) and my would-be responses. Of course this is sarcastic and all in good jest, so don't take any offense to it. "I'm not a runner, but..." You say you're not a runner? Then why did you come to a running specialty store? If you put one foot in front of the other in a repetitive fashion, then you're a runner. "Are you a runner?" No. I'm just working at a running store, standing on running shoes, and wearing a shirt that says "Run" on it. But no, I'm not a runner. "Do you work here?" Ok, I know I look like one of the high school kids I'm certified to teach, but believe it or not I...

Here's my recap of this past weekend's half marathon at Indy Monumental . Results are here . First I'll do the play-by-play, and then I'll give my overall reactions to the race. The day started off with less-than-ideal conditions -- starting line temperatures hovering around freezing with a steady (sometimes gusting) wind. It was a solid 10-15 degrees colder than it has been at any point this fall, so I was bundled up with a hat, gloves, and a light long sleeve under my singlet. Fun stuff. If the temperature and wind did anything, though, they slowed the really really fast guys down. So instead of people gunning for times below 1:04, everyone was content to settle into the pack and run relatively relaxed 5:00 per-mile pace (which is a 1:05:30 finishing time). From the time the gun went off, there was a pack of close to 15 guys, all running consistent 5:00 miles. Our first mile was 5:04, and then at every next mile interval we were right on pace (give or take a few s...